Lonely Planet Indonesia
Page 111
FERRIES TO SINGAPORE
Ferry Name Departure Location Frequency
BatamFast Batam Centre 12 daily
BatamFast Sekupang 9 daily
Sindo Ferry Batam Centre 12 daily
Sindo Ferry Sekupang 6 daily
Majestic Fast Ferry Batam Centre 12 daily
Majestic Fast Ferry Sekupang 9 daily
8Getting Around
Taxis are the primary way to get around Pulau Batam. They cost around 140,000Rp to Sekupang and 100,000Rp to Nagoya.
Nagoya
This is the original boom town, showing a lot more skin than you’ll find in the rest of Sumatra. The heart of town is the Nagoya Entertainment District, dotted with beer bars, shopping malls and massage parlours. It ain’t pretty, but Nagoya is ultimately functional, and a good place for dining out and an overnight stay if you’re travelling to or from Singapore by boat.
4Sleeping & Eating
For local warungs, head to the night market or the big and raucous Pujasera Nagoya. The Nagoya Hill Mall has a specialist food street, which offers many different cuisines and there are a couple of good seafood restaurants by the mall entrance.
Hotel Sinar BulanHOTEL$
(%0778-456757; Komp Polaris Sakti Blok A 9-11; r 230,000Rp; aW)
Friendly hotel just a couple of blocks from the Nagoya Hill Mall and various eateries. Rooms are unmemorable but clean and air-conditioned.
Amaris Hotel Nagoya HillHOTEL$$
(%0778-743 0488; www.amarishotel.com; Komp. Ruko Nagoya Hill Blok I 1-16, Jl Teuku Umar; r 500,000-550,000Rp; aW)
This contemporary hotel is a couple of minutes’ walk from Nagoya Hill Mall. Its minimalist rooms burst with mod cons and sport lime green and crimson accents.
Pulau Bintan
%0771 / Pop 173,000
Just across the water from Batam, Pulau Bintan markets itself as a high-end playground for well-heeled visitors from East Asia. Top-end resorts – mostly Singaporean-owned – huddle around the Lagoi area on the island’s north coast – in close proximity to Singapore. The east coast around Pantai Trikora is more affordable and laid-back.
Check out www.welcometobintan.com and www.bintan-resorts.com.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Raja Haji Fisabilillah Airport is located to the southeast of Pulau Bintan. There are daily flights to/from Jakarta on Lion Air, Batavia Air and Sriwijaya Air.
Boat
Bintan has two main ports and services to Pulau Batam, Singapore and other islands in the Riau archipelago. Tanjung Pinang, on the western side of the island, is the busiest harbour and the best option for folks heading for Pulau Batam or Pantai Trikora. If you’re bound for the resort area of Lagoi, the Bandar Bentan Telani (BBT) ferry terminal is more convenient.
To Pulau Batam
Regular speedboats depart from Tanjung Pinang’s main pier for Telaga Punggur on Batam (55,000Rp, 45 minutes) from 8am to 5.45pm daily, as well as two daily RORO car ferries (14,500Rp, two hours).
To Elsewhere in Indonesia
Daily ferries depart from Tanjung Pinang’s main pier to other islands in the Riau chain, such as Pulau Karimum, Pulau Lingga and Pulau Penuba.
To Malaysia
There are boats to Johor Bahru in Malaysia (340,000Rp, 2½ hours, three daily) from Tanjung Pinang.
To Singapore
Sindo Ferry (www.sindoferry.com.sg) runs from Tanjung Pinang to Singapore’s Tanah Merah ferry terminal (one way S$22, two hours) four times daily between 7am and 5pm.
Bintan Resort Ferries (www.brf.com.sg) connects Singapore’s Tanah Merah ferry terminal (one way/return from S$45/58, one hour, five to seven daily) with the BBT ferry terminal near the Lagoi resorts area.
Tanjung Pinang
The main port town on the island is a bustling mercantile centre with more ethnic diversity than most Sumatran towns. Few travellers linger long here, but there are a couple of worthwhile attractions if you have time.
Pulau Penyenget (admission 5000Rp), reachable by frequent boats (8000Rp) from Bintan’s main pier, was once the capital of the Riau rajahs. The ruins of the old palace of Rajah Ali and the tombs and graveyards of Rajah Jaafar and Rajah Ali are clearly signposted inland. The most impressive site is the sulphur-coloured mosque, with its many domes and minarets.
The star attraction of the village of Senggarang , just across the harbour from Tanjung Pinang, is an old Chinese temple, now suspended in the roots of a huge banyan tree.
Hotel Panorama (%0771-22920; www.bintanpanorama.com; Jl Haji Agus Salim 12; r incl breakfast 250,000Rp; aiW), a 10-minute walk from the ferry terminal, features clean and spacious rooms, with the attached Bamboo Cafe providing karaoke entertainment to Singaporean weekenders.
In the evening there are several food stalls scattered around town serving mie bangka (Hakka-style dumpling soup).
There are plenty of ATMs, mainly on Jl Teuku Umar. English-speaking staff at the tourist information centre ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0771-31822; Jl Merdeka 5; h8am-5pm) can organise tours and advise about transport.
A taxi to Pantai Trikora costs around 300,000Rp. An ojek to Trikora is around 150,000Rp. Another option is to rent a car (around 380,000Rp per day), which gives you flexibility in exploring the beaches around the island.
Pantai Trikora & Around
Bintan’s east coast is lined with rustic beaches, the main beach being Pantai Trikora. Further north up the coast is the remote and practically deserted Mutiara Beach. The small islands off Pantai Trikora are well worth visiting and there is good snorkelling outside the monsoon season (November to March). Accommodation is laid-back and simple.
4Sleeping & Eating
oMutiara Beach GuesthouseGUESTHOUSE$$
(%0821 7121 1988; www.mutiarabintan.com; Jl Trikora Km55; campsite S$8, r S$50-100; aW)
At this Swiss-run hideaway, gorgeous thatched bungalows with spacious verandahs sit amid unruly vegetation right by a pristine beach; its shallow waters are good for swimming.
Marjoly BeachRESORT$$
(%0813 9370 0732; www.marjolybeach.com; Pantai Trikora Km33; d incl breakfast S$50-60; a)
This laid-back resort consists of spacious thatched bungalows cooled by ocean breezes and a lack of hot water showers. Marjoly Beach is popular with kitesurfers from Singapore, and there’s a good restaurant (mains 30,000Rp to 50,000Rp).
Lagoi
Bintan’s resort area stretches along the northern coastline of the island along Pasir Lagoi. The beaches are sandy and swimmable, the resorts have polished four- and five-star service, and there are water sports and entertainment for all ages. Weekday discounts can be as generous as 50% off.
4Sleeping
Angsana Resort & Spa BintanRESORT$$$
(%0770-693111; www.angsana.com; r incl breakfast from S$390; aWs)
The dressed-down Angsana is best suited to young professionals. The breezy common spaces are decorated in zesty citrus colours, with private rooms sporting a contemporary colonial-era style. The superior rooms are nice but the suites are super.
Banyan Tree BintanRESORT$$$
(%0770-693100; www.banyantree.com; r incl breakfast from S$650; aWs)
The private and privileged Banyan Tree has famed spa facilities and a high-powered retreat deep in the jungle. The hotel shares the 900m-long beach with Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan.
8Getting Around
Most resorts organise shuttle service between the BBT Ferry Terminal and the Lagoi hotels as part of the package price.
Jambi
The centrally located province of Jambi occupies a 53,435-sq-km slice of central Sumatra, stretching from the highest peaks of the Bukit Barisan range in the west to the coastal swamps facing the Strait of Melaka in the east.
The eastern lowlands are mainly rubber and oil-palm plantations, while in the western portion of the province is the Kerinci Seblat National Park, home to Sumatra’s highest peak, Gunung Kerinci (3805m), Sumatran tigers (Jambi’s faunal mascot) and rhinos. With the general improvement
of roads throughout the province, it now takes only slightly longer to reach the park from Jambi than from Padang and Jambi town is easily reached from Bandarlampung.
In the province’s fast disappearing forests, the Orang Rimba are an endangered hunter-gatherer tribe.
History
The province of Jambi was the heartland of the ancient kingdom of Malayu, which first rose to prominence in the 7th century. Much of Malayu’s history is closely and confusingly entwined with that of its main regional rival, the Palembang-based kingdom of Sriwijaya.
It is assumed that the temple ruins at Muara Jambi mark the site of Malayu’s former capital, the ancient city of Jambi (known to the Chinese as Chan Pi). The Malayu sent their first delegation to China in 644 and the Chinese scholar I Tsing spent a month in Malayu in 672. When he returned 20 years later he found that Malayu had been conquered by Sriwijaya. The Sriwijayans appear to have remained in control until the sudden collapse of their empire at the beginning of the 11th century.
Following Sriwijaya’s demise, Malayu re-emerged as an independent kingdom and stayed that way until it became a dependency of Java’s Majapahit empire, which ruled from 1278 until 1520. It then came under the sway of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra before coming under the control of the Dutch East Indian Company in 1616, who maintained a trade monopoly here until 1901 before moving its headquarters to Palembang.
ORANG RIMBA
Jambi’s nomadic hunter-gatherers are known by many names: outsiders refer to the diverse tribes collectively as Kubu, an unflattering term, while they refer to themselves as Orang Rimba (People of the Forest) or Anak Dalam (Children of the Forest). Descended from the first wave of Malays to migrate to Sumatra, they once lived in highly mobile groups throughout Jambi’s lowland forests.
As fixed communities began to dominate the province, the Orang Rimba retained their nomadic lifestyle and animistic beliefs, regarding their neighbours’ adoption of Islam and agriculture as disrespectful towards the forest. Traditionally the Orang Rimba avoided contact with the outsiders, preferring to barter and trade by leaving goods on the fringes of the forest or relying on trusted intermediaries.
In the 1960s, the Indonesian government’s social affairs and religion departments campaigned to assimilate the Orang Rimba into permanent camps and convert them to a monotheistic religion. Meanwhile the jungles were being transformed into rubber and oil-palm plantations during large-scale transmigrasi (government-sponsored scheme to encourage settlers to move from overcrowded regions to sparsely populated ones) from Java and Bali.
Some Orang Rimba assimilated and are now economically marginalised within the plantations, while others live off government funds and then return to the forests. Just over 2000 Orang Rimba retain their traditional lifestyles within the shrinking forest. The groups were given special settlement rights within Bukit Duabelas and Bukit Tigapuluh National Parks, but the protected forests are as vulnerable to illegal logging and poaching as other Sumatran parks.
According to the NGO groups that work with the Orang Rimba, it isn’t a question of if the tribes will lose their jungle traditions but when. In the spirit of practical idealism, the organisation WARSI (www.warsi.or.id) established its alternative educational outreach. Rather than forcing educational institutions on the Orang Rimba, teachers join those that will accept an outsider and teach the children how to read, write and count – the equivalent of knowing how to hunt and forage in the settled communities.
Some of the issues highlighted during a 2015 visit by the Norwegian prime minister to Orang Rimba communities that live in a concession area were decrepit housing provided by the government, a lack of cultivable land in place of the jungle that’s gone, and the inability to eat certain animals because members of Orang Rimba have been encouraged to embrace Islam.
Jambi
%0741 / Pop 516,000
The capital of Jambi province is a busy river port about 155km from the mouth of the Sungai Batang Hari. The large temple complex at Muara Jambi, 26km downstream from Jambi, is the single biggest attraction on Sumatra’s east coast. Jambi also has a pleasantly low-key and friendly vibe, especially around the riverfront food stalls that kick off at dusk around the funky pedestrian bridge.
1Sights & Activities
oMuara JambiRUIN
(admission 5000Rp; h8am-4pm)
This scattering of ruined and partially restored temples is the most important Hindu-Buddhist site in Sumatra. The temples are believed to mark the location of the ancient city of Jambi, capital of the kingdom of Malayu 1000 years ago. Most of the candi (temples) date from the 9th to the 13th centuries, when Jambi’s power was at its peak. You can spend the whole day wandering the forested site, crunching on ancient pottery shards and marvelling at the temple stonework.
Eight temples have been identified so far, each at the centre of its own low-walled compound. Some are accompanied by perwara candi (smaller side temples) and three have been restored to something close to their original form. The site is dotted with numerous menapo (smaller brick mounds), thought to be the ruins of other buildings – possibly dwellings for priests and other high officials.
The restored temple Candi Gumpung, straight ahead from the donation office, has a fiendish makara (demon head) guarding its steps. Excavation work here has yielded some important finds, including a peripih (stone box) containing sheets of gold inscribed with old Javanese characters, dating the temple back to the 9th century. A statue of Prajnyaparamita found here, and other stone carvings, are among the highlights at the small site museum nearby. However, the best artefacts have been taken to Jakarta.
Candi Tinggi, 200m southeast of Candi Gumpung, is the finest of the temples uncovered so far. It dates from the 9th century but is built around another, older temple. A path leads east from Candi Tinggi to Candi Astano, 1.5km away, passing Candi Kembar Batu and lots of menapo along the way.
The temples on the western side of the site are yet to be restored. They remain pretty much as they were found – minus the jungle, which was cleared in the 1980s. The western sites are signposted from Candi Gumpung. First stop, after 900m, is Candi Gedong Satu, followed 150m further on by Candi Gedong Dua. They are independent temples despite what their names may suggest. The path continues west for another 1.5km to Candi Kedaton, the largest of the temples, then a further 900m northwest to Candi Koto Mahligai.
The forested site covers 12 sq km along the northern bank of the Batang Hari. The entrance is through an ornate archway in the village of Muara Jambi and most places of interest are within a few minutes’ walk.
Much of the site still needs excavating and there is some debate whether visitors should be allowed to clamber all over the ruins and the restored temples.
For centuries the site lay abandoned and overgrown in the jungle on the banks of the Batang Hari. It was ‘rediscovered’ in 1920 by a British army expedition sent to explore the region. The dwellings of the ordinary Malayu people have been replaced by contemporary stilt houses of the Muara Jambi village residents. According to Chinese records, Malayu people once lived along the river in stilted houses or in raft huts moored to the bank.
GunturTOUR
(%0813 6833 0882)
Highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, English-speaking Guntur is the best tour guide you can find in Jambi if you want to go to Muara Jambi. He has an in-depth knowledge of the Kerinci Valley also.
4Sleeping
Guntur or the Padmasana Foundation can arrange homestays in the village adjoining Muara Jambi, which is very worthwhile in terms of cultural immersion and also because it encourages community participation in the conservation of the ruins. Expect to pay around 150,000Rp for a room and board. There are a couple of local eateries by the river.
Hotel DutaBOUTIQUE HOTEL$$
(%0741-755918; hotelduta@yahoo.com; Jl Sam Ratulangi 65-68; r incl breakfast 500,000-650,000Rp; aW)
The Duta features compact rooms with modern decor and snazzy bathrooms. Flat-screen TVs – with plenty
of English-language content – and a wildly ostentatious reception area are other cosmopolitan surprises in sleepy Jambi. It’s a short stroll to alfresco street food treats down on the riverbank.
Novita HotelBUSINESS HOTEL$$
(%0741-27208; www.novitahotel.com; Jl Gatot Subroto 44; r from 570,000Rp; aWs)
A central location, friendly staff, pool with swim-up bar and spacious, business-style rooms are all boons at this former Novotel. The restaurant is decent if you go for the local specialities, and our only quibble is some erratic staff behaviour (waking guests up at 8am to ask if they want their laundry done, for example).
Hotel FortunaHOTEL$$
(%0741-23161; Jl Jendral Gatot Subrato; s/d 170,000/350,000Rp; aW)
With modern bathrooms and flat-screen TVs, your travel budget goes a long way at the Fortuna. Rooms are simple and sparsely furnished, but comfortable. The Fortuna is concealed in a quiet retail plaza near the Abadi Hotel, a local landmark, and there are Chinese noodle shops nearby for a quick breakfast. Staff won’t win any congeniality prizes, though.
5Eating
Taman Tanggo RajoINDONESIAN$
(Jl Raden Pamuk; snacks from 10,000Rp)
This is Jambi’s essential evening destination for promenading along the attractive, curved pedestrian bridge across the river that lights up at night. Stalls sell local favourites, such as nanas goreng (fried pineapples), jagung bakar (roasted corn slathered with coconut milk and chilli) and different kinds of sate. Nearby is the Wiltop Trade Centre, a modern shopping mall.